Reading Suggestions

Bluebonnet Books

The Texas Bluebonnet Award is a unique program that encourages reading for pleasure and is aimed at students in grades 3-6. Each year, 20 books are chosen as the “Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List” by the TBA selection committee.

If students read a minimum of five books from the current master list (or have the books read aloud to them), they have the opportunity to vote for their favorite title during the month of January each year. The author of the book receiving the most votes statewide is declared the winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award.

The current list of Bluebonnet Books can be found at:

Texas Bluebonnet list

Lone Star Books

The Lone Star Award is chosen from a list of twenty books for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in Texas.

If students read a minimum of five books from the current master list (or have the books read aloud to them), they have the opportunity to vote for their favorite title during the month of January each year. The author of the book receiving the most votes statewide is declared the winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award.

The current list of Lone Star Nominees can be found at:

http://www.txla.org/groups/lone-star

Houston Area Independent Schools Library Network Reading Lists

This list of titles has been compiled by librarians at member schools of the Houston Area Independent Schools Library Network (HAISLN). It includes both fiction and nonfiction books by some of the best authors for children and young adults.

Books on this list are evaluated annually by grade-level committees. Committee members rely on recommendations from standard, professionally prepared evaluation aids and on input from students and teachers, as well as the collective HAISLN expertise. A conscious effort is made to appeal to the broad range of interests, maturity levels, and reading abilities of students.

http://haisln.org/reading-lists.html

American Library Association

This is a great website to visit and it is published by the American Library Association – the premiere library association in the US. Here you can find the nominees and award winners for…

The Caldecott Medal: The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal

The Newberry Medal: The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal

The Coretta Scott King Book Award: The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee is dedicated to celebrating and promoting the artistic expression of the African American experience through literature and the graphic arts. We are excited to celebrate the contributions of Coretta Scott King Book Award Winner and Honor illustrators in a new and exciting way!

http://www.ala.org/emiert/cskbookawards

Writing Suggestions

This is hardest section, as some kids do not really like to write. However, if you have a writer (aspiring, budding, needs the push), then here are some suggestions that might be of use.

Journal Buddies

This site would really like you to purchase their journal, but lists 37 writing prompts that might be of use.

http://journalbuddies.com/journal_prompts__journal_topics/summer-writing-for-kids-37-fabulous-ideas-to-write-about/

TED-Ed

Several students have expressed interest in exploring fiction writing, which is one of the harder genres to master. If you have a child who wants to become the next Isaac Asimov, J.R.R. Tolkien, or J.K. Rowling, then the following video (on TED-Ed) might be of interest to them. This video is appropriate for older students.

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-build-a-fictional-world-kate-messner

Scholastic

This website has links to guide students through different types of writing.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/index.htm

Neil Gaiman, has the following rules for writing that you might want to explore with your child. The most important thing I would emphasize is just to write. Don’t get stuck on the editing – writing should first and foremost be the generation of ideas on paper. Editing comes later.

Neil Gaiman’s 8 Good Writing Practices

1. Write.

2. Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.

3. Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.

4. Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.

5. Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.

6. Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.

7. Laugh at your own jokes.

8. The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But its definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

Article originally appeared on AdviceToWriters (http://www.advicetowriters.com/).